Fishing Guides

Skills worth getting right

Knots, rigs and technique are the parts of fishing you control. These guides cover them step by step, say plainly where the evidence is thin, and skip the folklore.

An angler casting from a small boat toward lily pads and half-submerged timber along a calm shoreline at golden hour
Technique

Bass Fishing for Beginners: Largemouth 101

Where largemouth bass hold, how the seasons move them, and the lure categories that catch them — a beginner's guide built on state agency sources.
An angler in waders casting a long surf rod into breaking waves at first light on an open sand beach
Fishing Guides

Best Conditions for Surf Fishing: Reading Tide, Wind and Swell Together

How to read surf fishing conditions as a system — tide, wind and swell together — using official NOAA and NWS data, plus safety guidance for the beach.
A close-up editorial photograph of a green braided fishing line knotted to a clear monofilament leader on a weathered wooden surface, with a spool of green braid and a spool of clear line in the background
Knots

Best Knots for Joining Braid to Fluorocarbon

How to join braid to a fluorocarbon leader: which line-to-line knots to use, why braid slips, and how to keep the connection small enough to pass the guides.
Wet hands cradling a brown trout half-submerged at the surface of a clear stream, the fish facing into the current moments before release
Fishing Guides

Catch and Release: Doing It So the Fish Survives

Wet hands, under a minute of air, cut deep hooks, revive facing the current. NOAA and state agency best practices for releases that actually survive.
An angler on a river bank at dusk with two rods propped on holders pointing out over dark water, a lantern beside a tackle bag on the mud
Species

Catfish Fishing: The Bottom, the Bait and the Hole

Catfish feed on the bottom and hide in deep holes by day. What each species eats, when to set the hook, and why fishing after rain works.
An angler in a boat lifting a crappie clear of the water by the line, rod held upright in the other hand, a half-submerged brush pile and misty treeline behind in early morning light
Species

Crappie Fishing: How to Find Them and How Not to Lose Them

Crappie hold on structure and take a bait softly, so the two things that decide your day are where you look and how gently you set the hook.
Split view at the waterline — a hackled dry fly resting on the surface film with a weighted nymph visible in the clear water below
Fly Fishing

Dry Fly vs Nymph: Which One, and When

Dry flies copy adult insects on top; nymphs copy the stage that lives underwater for months. The biology behind the choice, and the rule agencies give.
A row of bare fishing hooks arranged from tiny to very large on a weathered wooden surface in warm window light
Gear

Fishing Hook Sizes Explained: From #32 to 19/0

How hook sizing really works — numbers down, aughts up — plus hook anatomy, matching size to bait and species, and why agencies push circle and barbless hooks.
An angler's essentials on sunlit dock planks — rod and reel, landing net, a tackle box of lures, and a folded paper slip tucked beneath a worn leather wallet
Fishing Guides

Fishing Licenses: How the System Works and Where the Money Goes

License sales plus excise taxes fund fisheries through a user-pays system dating to 1950. How the Sport Fish Restoration program works and why licenses matter.
Three spools of fishing line on weathered dock planks — dark braided line, clear monofilament and stiffer clear fluorocarbon — in hard afternoon light
Gear

Fishing Line Types: Braid vs Mono vs Fluorocarbon

Monofilament, fluorocarbon and braided line compared — stretch, visibility, sink rate and durability, what agencies actually say, and which to spool when.
An assortment of colorful soft plastic fishing lures (worms, creature baits, and swimbaits) along with a weighted jig hook arranged on a wet granite rock beside water
Lures

Fishing Soft Plastics

How to rig soft plastics, what research shows happens when a fish swallows one, and why bass colour vision makes most tackle-aisle shades irrelevant.
A fly angler standing thigh-deep in a clear mountain stream at golden hour, fly line laid out across riffled water
Fly Fishing

Fly Fishing Basics: What It Is and How to Start

Fly fishing explained by state agencies: why you cast the line instead of the lure, the outfit you actually need, what flies imitate, and where to begin.
Fly tackle on a weathered table — a reel loaded with bright fly line, a coiled tapered leader, a spool of fine tippet and three trout flies
Fly Fishing

Fly Line, Leader and Tippet: The Setup Explained

Backing, fly line, leader, tippet — what each section does, how line weights match your rod, and the knots that join them. The fly setup, front to back.
A row of unbranded fishing rods of different lengths leaning against a weathered wooden rack in soft morning light beside a lake
Gear

How to Choose a Fishing Rod: Length, Power and Action

Rod length, power, action and material explained with agency guidance — what each spec trades away, and the honest beginner setup agencies recommend.
An open tackle box filled with various green, chartreuse, white, and natural-colored soft plastic fishing lures sits on a rocky shoreline beside a baitcasting reel and rod, a dark landing net, and calm water
Lures

How to Choose Lure Colour

Water absorbs red light first and blue last, so lure colour changes with depth and clarity. How to choose for visibility instead of guessing from folklore.
Side view of a fly angler mid-cast, a narrow loop of line unrolling above the rod tip against an open sky
Fly Fishing

How to Fly Cast: The Basic Overhead Cast

The four-part overhead cast taught by state angler education: pick up, back cast, forward cast, lay down — plus the pause that makes it work.
A man in waders, a cap, and a backpack stands on rocks at the edge of a fast-flowing river holding a fly-fishing rod, with a large boulder and forested bank in the background
Technique

How to Read Water

Riffle, run, pool and glide — what each one is, why fish sit beside fast water rather than in it, and when hiding behind a rock stops paying off.
Fingers holding a bare fishing hook while line wraps neatly along its shank, golden-hour light on a wooden boat gunwale
Knots

How to Snell a Hook: The Snell Knot

The traditional snell knot in five diagrammed steps — why wrapping the shank instead of the eye changes hooksets, and where snelling shines.
Extreme close-up of two clear tippet sections being joined with symmetrical wraps meeting in the middle, soft river-morning light
Knots

How to Tie a Blood Knot

The blood knot in five diagrammed steps — the classic join for two similar lines, the fly angler's leader knot, and the detail most tiers miss.
Weathered hands wrapping clear fishing line into neat twists beside a hook, soft overcast light with river stones blurred behind
Knots

How to Tie a Clinch Knot

The original clinch knot in four diagrammed steps — how it differs from the improved version, where it still makes sense, and its known limits.
Two different fishing lines — thin braid and clear leader — joined in the middle and held taut between two hands in warm side light
Knots

How to Tie a Double Uni Knot

The double uni knot in five diagrammed steps — the standard way to join braid to leader or any two lines, with the wrap counts that make it work.
Hands holding a fishing line with a small neat loop standing out from its middle, cool blue coastal light with surf rods blurred behind
Knots

How to Tie a Dropper Loop

The dropper loop in four diagrammed steps — a standing loop mid-line for multi-hook rigs, plus the twist count and the pull that forms it correctly.
Close-up of a person's weathered hands threading a clear monofilament fishing line through the eye of a metal hook over a sunlit wooden surface
Knots

How to Tie a Palomar Knot

The Palomar knot in four steps, why it suits braided line, the three mistakes that weaken it, and when a different knot is the better choice.
Hands tying two leader sections together with a doubled overhand wrap, one line thicker than the other, neutral riverside daylight
Knots

How to Tie a Surgeon's Knot

The surgeon's knot in five diagrammed steps — the fastest reliable way to join two lines, and the join that forgives different diameters.
Hands seating a compact fishing knot by pulling line steadily, a neat barrel of wraps near a lure clip over cool green water
Knots

How to Tie a Uni Knot

The uni knot in five diagrammed steps — one tying motion that handles hooks, lures, line joins and the reel spool, and why it earns the name 'uni'.
Fresh fishing line tied around the bare metal spool of an open spinning reel on a workbench in warm window light
Knots

How to Tie an Arbor Knot

The arbor knot in four diagrammed steps — the right way to start line on any reel spool, why it works, and the braid caveat worth knowing.
Extreme close-up of a slim woven connection between thin braided line and clear leader held under tension, bright daylight over open water
Knots

How to Tie an FG Knot

The FG knot in five diagrammed steps — the slim braid-to-leader weave, why tension is everything, and when its extra effort actually pays.
Close-up of hands tightening a small fishing knot against a hook eye, monofilament line catching warm morning light over calm water
Knots

How to Tie an Improved Clinch Knot

The improved clinch knot in five diagrammed steps: the wraps, the two passes, the extra tuck that makes it 'improved', and the mistakes that cost fish.
A bearded man wearing sunglasses, a cap, and chest waders kneels in shallow lakewater holding up a largemouth bass by its lower lip, with a fishing rod and reel resting on the water in the foreground and a forested shoreline behind
Identification

Largemouth vs Smallmouth Bass

Jaw against the eye, dorsal notch, direction of the markings — the three agency-worded checks that separate largemouth from smallmouth every time.
A bluegill held flat in a wet palm above calm water, its dark ear flap and barred flank catching golden-hour light along a reedy shoreline
Species

Panfish: What Counts, and Why They Matter More Than You Think

Panfish is an angler's word, not a biologist's — Wisconsin's legal list has 8 species, New Jersey counts three groups. Who qualifies and why they matter.
A man wearing a cap, sunglasses, and a green backpack walks along a rocky lakeshore at sunset while carrying a spinning fishing rod, with reeds and forested hills in the background
Beginner

Shore Fishing for Beginners

Everything a first-time shore angler needs: the licence question, where to stand, what to cast at, and the simple setup that catches fish from the bank.
A spinning reel and a low-profile baitcasting reel side by side on a boat deck, side light showing the open-face spool against the enclosed revolving spool
Gear

Spinning vs Baitcasting Reels: Which One and When

How spinning and baitcasting reels actually work — fixed spool vs revolving spool, backlash, drag and line weights — with agency guidance on choosing.
Close-up of a man's hands rigging a soft plastic worm onto a hook while a baitcaster reel and rod, a bullet weight, a bead, and a swivel rest on a carpeted boat deck
Rigs

Texas Rig vs Carolina Rig

Same hook, same bait — the weight placement is the whole difference. When to fish each rig, how to set the hook, and why the weight material matters.
Macro of a drop shot rig against clear water — a small hook tied on the line with a slim weight hanging below at the line's end
Rigs

The Drop Shot Rig: Finesse Fishing Off the Bottom

The drop shot rig explained — hook above the weight, bait suspended off bottom, and the clear-water, deep-water and pressured-lake situations it was made for.
A surf fishing rig laid on wet sand — an egg sinker sliding on the main line above a barrel swivel, leader running to a circle hook
Rigs

The Fish Finder Rig: Sliding Sinker Bottom Fishing

How to build the fish finder rig — sliding sinker, bead, swivel, leader — why fish never feel the weight, and how to pair it with circle hooks.
A two-hook bottom rig hanging vertically — two short dropper loops holding hooks above a pyramid sinker, against blurred water
Rigs

The High-Low Rig: Two Hooks, One Bottom Rig

The high-low (double dropper loop) rig explained — how to build it, why two baits beat one on the bottom, and the hook-limit rules that vary by state.
A slender fishing float standing upright in calm lake water at golden hour, line running down into the depths
Rigs

The Slip Float Rig: Bobber Fishing at Any Depth

How the slip float rig works — bobber stop, bead, sliding float, weight, hook — why it beats a fixed bobber, and the small-float rule agencies keep repeating.
Macro of fingers pinching a small round split shot onto clear fishing line above a hook with a soft plastic worm on a wooden surface
Rigs

The Split Shot Rig: The Simplest Rig That Works

Pinch one shot above a hook and you have a rig. How far above, how much weight, why the slow fall catches fish — and the wacky rig it leads into.
A beginner angler kneeling at the edge of a small clear stream holding a stream thermometer in the water, light spinning rod resting on the bank beside them
Species

Trout Fishing for Beginners: Water Temperature First

A thermometer teaches more than a tackle box. Where trout can survive, when to stop fishing for them, and the light rigs that work on stocked water.
An angler in waders kneeling in shallow water holding a rainbow trout at the surface, its pink lateral stripe and spotted back clear against cold clear water
Species

Trout vs Salmon: Same Family, Very Different Lives

Trout, salmon and char all share one family — the real split is life history. Why Pacific salmon die after spawning, steelhead don't, and where char fit in.
A person's wet hands hold a walleye fish just above dark rippling water, appearing to release it back into a lake
Reference

Types of Fish: How Species Are Grouped

36,500 species sort four ways: by water, by migration, by family, and by law. A plain map of the types of fish — with every group linked to real profiles.
An angler holding a walleye low over the gunwale of a boat at last light, the fish's reflective eye catching the lamp, dark water behind
Species

Walleye Fishing: Light, Depth and a Slow Retrieve

Walleye eyes are built for low light, which sets where they sit and when they feed. What that means for depth, timing and how slowly you fish.
A hooded, cap-wearing angler in a dark jacket uses pliers to remove a hook from a walleye held against the edge of an aluminum boat, with a spinning rod in a holder and a misty, forest-lined lake in the background
Identification

Walleye vs Yellow Perch

Same family, and one eats the other. The glassy eye, canine teeth and white tail tip that mark a walleye — and the barred, schooling perch it hunts.

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